They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job. (Untitled)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread? (Reaching)
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"
With all the talk about recession and depression these days, since it's the biggest issue facing the world, I thought I'd share the lyrics to this 1931 hit song, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney. It's ironic that the one great social equalizer turns out to be economics: instead of measuring prosperity by how much we have, we measure it by how little we've lost; instead of thinking in terms of who's gained the most, we start thinking in terms of who's lost the least. (Religion As a Crutch)
(Birdman of Haight Street) I once wrote a poem in which I envisioned a future where there would be a group of people who had more scarcity and hardship than they had earned, like as if poverty and homelessness had some value. The solution was to equalize everyone and what they had (or what they didnt have) was divided up among all the others who didnt have quite so little, so each would have an equal share of scarcity, hardship and depression. This way, no single group of people would have to enjoy the value of the burden all by themselves. (On the Street Where You Live)
(Help) That reminds me of a verse in the bible. "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." (Mt. 25:29). So, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer......but the question is, when the RICH get poorer, and that's what we're beginning to see now -- the rich are losing money, going bankrupt, filing for "bailouts", cashing in, selling off, laying off, closing up shop...... So please tell me: When the rich go poor, where do we go? (Anger and Contempt)
Here's an interesting article from the Huffington Post When the rich get poor, the poor disappear
PS. Oh, by the way........i found that section of the poem I was referring to above so let me share it now. I wrote, "there was too much grief &sorrow down town hoarded in one place &there wasnt enough to go around scarcity was everywhere. so if someone had more unhappiness than they earned a portion of it was taken away &given to somebody else who had less."(Bye Bye Blackbird)
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job. (Untitled)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread? (Reaching)
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"
With all the talk about recession and depression these days, since it's the biggest issue facing the world, I thought I'd share the lyrics to this 1931 hit song, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney. It's ironic that the one great social equalizer turns out to be economics: instead of measuring prosperity by how much we have, we measure it by how little we've lost; instead of thinking in terms of who's gained the most, we start thinking in terms of who's lost the least. (Religion As a Crutch)
(Birdman of Haight Street) I once wrote a poem in which I envisioned a future where there would be a group of people who had more scarcity and hardship than they had earned, like as if poverty and homelessness had some value. The solution was to equalize everyone and what they had (or what they didnt have) was divided up among all the others who didnt have quite so little, so each would have an equal share of scarcity, hardship and depression. This way, no single group of people would have to enjoy the value of the burden all by themselves. (On the Street Where You Live)
(Help) That reminds me of a verse in the bible. "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." (Mt. 25:29). So, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer......but the question is, when the RICH get poorer, and that's what we're beginning to see now -- the rich are losing money, going bankrupt, filing for "bailouts", cashing in, selling off, laying off, closing up shop...... So please tell me: When the rich go poor, where do we go? (Anger and Contempt)
Here's an interesting article from the Huffington Post When the rich get poor, the poor disappear
PS. Oh, by the way........i found that section of the poem I was referring to above so let me share it now. I wrote, "there was too much grief &sorrow down town hoarded in one place &there wasnt enough to go around scarcity was everywhere. so if someone had more unhappiness than they earned a portion of it was taken away &given to somebody else who had less."(Bye Bye Blackbird)
